Chapter Four Bachelor of the Year
ZANDER
The locker room is buzzing with that excitement that only happens at the start of the season.
It’s the end of our first week, and the team is feeling good and ready to kick ass.
Everyone is determined to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row, and that’s been showing during practice.
We’re pushing ourselves harder and faster.
We know what it’s like to be champions now, and we want more.
“You killed it out there, man,” Wilder says, giving a high-five.
“Same to you, brother,” I reply with a grin.
“Our defense is going to be unbeatable this year!” Carson exclaims, pumping his fists into the air and woofing several times.
I chuckle and shake my head as I strip off my jersey and pads.
“Hell, yes!” Owen declares and begins to woof with Carson.
“Holy shit, you guys are embarrassing,” Jayce teases.
“Ahhh, give them a break,” Jensen grins, turning from his locker. “They’re just excited. It’s adorable.”
We all laugh and Carson and Owen stop woofing to make a fuss about being called adorable.
“Gentleman! Your attention, please.”
We all jump at the sound of Coach’s booming voice reverberating through the room, bouncing off the concrete walls and metal lockers. He’s standing in the locker room doorway, large and imposing, his freshly shaved head gleaming under the fluorescent lighting.
Once we’ve all snapped to attention, he booms, “All right, boys, I have an announcement to make. ICON Magazine is going to be doing two features on the Night Hawks for their Athletics and Lifestyle Editions.” His gaze zeroes in on Carson and Jensen.
“You should all be thanking Grace for this. Her work for some of you on social media has caused our popularity to explode, and winning the Cup last season has only pushed us more into the spotlight.” He lifts his chin and sweeps his eyes over all of us.
“I’m sure you’ve all noticed that our number of sponsorships has also increased.
Now, I know this success is great for us, and the spoils of it can be intoxicating, but I don’t want any of you to lose your heads over it.
Continue to focus on the team, the game, and each other. Got it?”
“Yes, Coach,” we say in near unison.
He gives us a small smile and nod of approval before he continues.
“Good. Now, the magazine will do one feature on the entire team, but the second will focus on one of you as “ICON’s Most Eligible Bachelor of 2025.” I don’t really know what that means, nor do I care, so I’m going to leave it to you all to choose who you want to take that feature. Jensen!”
“Yes, Coach?” Jensen calls back.
“As Captain, I’m leaving you in charge of figuring this out,” he declares. “Talk amongst yourselves, vote, whatever you want to do and give me your answer by Monday. That’s when the photographer will be arriving.”
“You got it, Coach,” Jensen replies, sounding less than enthused about the task.
“Good.” Coach claps his hands. “Great work today, guys. Enjoy the weekend.”
With that, he turns and strolls out of the room. There’s a beat of silence after he’s gone before the team explodes into wild chatter.
“ICON?” someone exclaims. “Holy shit!”
“They just did a feature on the Titans Quarterback!”
“They really want one of us to be the bachelor of the year?”
“Sucks to be Jensen, Carson, and Scott.”
“Oh, yeah, because having a beautiful woman in love with you is such a burden. Grow up.”
Jensen sighs and jumps up on a bench. He sticks his fingers in his mouth and lets out a loud whistle to get everyone’s attention. The talking stops and everyone looks up at him.
“All right, listen up,” he says in his authoritative Captain voice. “I know Coach suggested we vote or something, but I actually have an idea of who should take the single feature.” To my surprise, he looks down at me. “Zander should get it.”
I blink up at him, surprised. “What? Why me?”
Jensen grins and addresses the whole team. “It’s only fair. Zander scored the winning goal in the championship and he’s not in the spotlight as much as he deserves. Let’s give him his fifteen minutes of fame, yeah? What do you say guys?”
There’s a moment of silence as everyone murmurs to each other, as if debating the suggestion.
I shake my head and chuckle at the ludicrous thought - Me? Bachelor of the Year? - but then Wilder calls out, “I agree with Jensen. Give it to Zander.”
Jayce shouts, “Hell yeah!”
“Zander! Zander! Zander!” Carson starts chanting and pumping his arms and soon enough, the entire team is shouting my name.
What the fuck is happening right now?
“Seems we’re all in agreement, then!” Jensen exclaims. “Zander is our Bachelor of the Year.”
The guys all cheer and some of the guys grab my shoulders and shake me like I’ve just won the Cup again. I’m so confused… why me?
“Drinks are on Zander tonight!” Wilder shouts, which only makes the team cheer louder.
Shit.
“I don’t know about this whole magazine feature, guys. I think you should have it, Jensen. You’re the captain, after all.”
I’m sitting at a table in the Night Hawk bar, our favorite haunt, with Jensen, Owen, Carson, Wilder, and Jayce while the rest of the team takes up much of the space around us.
It’s been a couple of hours since they all picked me for the article, and the more and more I think about it, the more I’m certain I’m not the right choice.
Jensen points at me with his beer bottle and shakes his head. “No way, man. I’m happily married and don’t want that kind of attention.”
I look around the table and suggest, “Okay, what about Carson?”
Carson looks up from the basket of fries he’s been mowing down and furrows his brow.
“No way,” he says.
I turn to Owen, but he’s already shaking his head. “Nope, not a chance in hell.”
“Wilder?” I sigh. “Jayce?”
They both throw their heads back and laugh. Okay… I’ll take that as a no for each of them.
Slumping back in my chair, I sigh. “All right, fine. I’ll do it, but I don’t know that I deserve it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jensen replies. “I wouldn’t have nominated you if you didn’t.
You’re not as much of a playboy as Jayce or Wilder, and like I said in the locker room, you don’t get the spotlight as much as you deserve.
Hell, you should hire Grace to increase your public profile.
She’s got a staff of five people working for her, she’s blown up so much.
Better to get in with her now before you can’t afford her anymore. ”
I laugh. “I don’t want a fan club or followers. I’d rather have what you three have.” I nod my chin toward Jensen, Owen, and Carson. “Someone for myself. A real relationship.”
Carson reaches over and grabs my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
“Don’t worry, man,” he says. “Believe me, it’ll happen when you least expect it, but it’ll happen. Especially for such a great guy like you.”
Their praise means a lot to me, but I also feel super awkward being on the receiving end of it.
I’m not the type of guy who usually seeks to be the center of attention.
I prefer being in the background, doing my job, and enjoying a bit of anonymity.
The guys are so excited for me to have this, though, that I can’t turn it down.
“If only this magazine thing was happening at a better time,” I say with a chuckle, shifting the focus of the conversation slightly. “I just found out I have to leave my place for at least the next two weeks and relocate to a hotel or something.”
“Huh?” Wilder frowns. “The hell is that about?”
“I got an email from my landlord saying that all the apartments are getting mandatory bathroom renovations because of a piping issue,” I explain, gazing down at my beer.
“The water will be turned off for a few weeks. We can come and go if we need to get stuff, but we’re not supposed to stay or it’s a violation of our lease for safety reasons or whatever. ”
“Ah, dude,” Carson groans after swallowing another mouthful of fries. “That blows.”
“Yeah, totally sucks,” I agree. “They’re at least willing to reimburse us for having to stay somewhere else, though. The email had instructions for submitting invoices for different places like Extended Stay, so at least it’s not all coming out of pocket.”
“Screw that,” Carson says. “Why don’t you just stay at Grace’s old place?”
I frown at him, my heart thumping with cautious hope. “You still have it?”
He nods. “Yeah, I rented it for her, after all. Then Grace had Skyler sublet it, but now I’m ready to let it go. The lease still has a few months on it, though. If I break the lease early, it’s a huge fine. No one is staying there so you can totally crash there if you want.”
“Shit man, that’d be great!” I exclaim, slapping the table. “I’d much rather do that than live in a hotel for two weeks. I’ll take you up on your offer! Can I move in on Monday?”
“Sure thing,” Carson nods with a grin. “I’ll get you the key tomorrow.”
“You’re a lifesaver, man,” I tell him.
He buffs his knuckles on his shirt and puts on an animated, haughty face. “Oh, I know. Just call me Saint Carson.”
“Hey, Saint Carson,” Jensen chuckles. “Why don’t you show off your generous spirit and buy us another round?”
Carson rolls his eyes but gets up from the table, mumbling under his breath as he walks away, leaving the rest of us laughing as we watch him go.
Later that evening, as I’m riding an Uber from the bar to my place, I feel restless.
There’s so much on my mind right now - needing to move, being chosen as ‘Bachelor of the Year’ by my team, and feeling that soul-deep longing for something more - that I can’t bring myself to relax.
Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I dial up my Mom.
Hearing her voice always helps me calm down when my nerves are a little on edge.
She answers after two rings. “Zander? What’s going on, sweetheart?”
“Hey, Mom,” I tell her with a grin. “I wanted to call you and tell you some good news.”